Landscape of Virginia

Today I was able to get over to Weyers Cave and attend a wedding of a good friend and fellow teacher. He really had a perfect day upon which to get married and hold an outdoor reception. I was able to bring my camera and get some nice snapshot of the event. They were both every happy people and I only wish them the best in their days to come united in marriage. I enjoyed the drive over and back, the view from the mountains was amazing today with the visibility being of utmost grandeur. Truly a good day for us all that live in this corner of the world.

  Nothing like a wedding to get the blood going in the morning. It was a festive and joyfull wedding of my friend Tim B. It was a great day weather wise for the outdoor reception and I enjoyed it. Others seem to have a joyful time as well. It took place in the Shenandoah Valley up near Weyers Cave and on a hilltop parking lot one could see almost the entire town of Weyers Cave. Truly a Blessed occasion and I'm glad I took the trip. May the happy couple have many wonderful days together in their time to come.

Just getting underway today we all seemed to be very very sleepy, I mean everyone was yawning. It really was quite comical. The dark clouds interspersed with sunshine seem to put us all into the state of eternal slumber love. The chill in the air was very autumn like and it helped people want to crawl back under the covers this morning and not be at work, but the day went on with our lives not wanting to be where we were, at work doing our jobs and "keeping on task". We got through today...now it's time for a nap.

  This is a work that was done on location here in this little college town. It's of a garage that was taken over by a good fellow...he's making a go of it on his own in this little building.

Today is the day I turn sixty, and believe me I don't feel it. When I realized where the time had gone I was stunned that I made it to this milestone of time alive on this earth. True, time alive doesn't equal the quality of that time being of good to excellent quality but man time alive does give one perspective on life that I hadn't been thinking of achieving but it is with me none the less. Having been here and being free, clear-headed and in a healthy state is something I learned that I owe to my spirituality and it's state. I truly think one doesn't last long if one doesn't have one's drive towards improvement headed in an everyday priority of living. I think because I always have thought I could just do a little better, that everyday I am taking on what people in my life bring up to me, and I try to be thankful for it. I don't always show gratitude for it but I do after I have had some time to think about it....most often I do.... Today ...

This is an oil titled: "A Power Greater Than Ourselves" and it's a medium sized painting but it has a meaning much larger than the image itself. It also took a lot longer to finish than many of my other paintings, and it has deeper interest in my concentration in it's making than many of my other summer's paintings. It was a joy to see come into existance.

The Summer is coming to a close for me, with schools reopening I will be going back to work starting this Friday morning. Our beloved students will return the following Wednesday. I can say that it's been a very active summer for me with me finishing many painting during this break and joyfully I loved making each one. The big change has been feeling good about the work I have done both once they were done and also while they were in the 'cooker' where I was active in the making of them. This summer I focused on making 'overall looks' to the scenes which I painted partial storefronts of last summer. Those were mere studies ( or preparations ) for what I had in mind and it was a long wait during the school year '09-'10 until I could get to them this past two months of late June, July and early August. I say two months because I both took some time to see distant places and I count June and August as only half month's work time on this summer...